Say Goodbye to the Sock Bun and Hello to the “Cinnabun”

Attention lovers of the sock bun – there’s a new style hitting the streets that’s ideal for women with mid-length to long hair.

Mario Russo, owner & lead stylist of Salon Mario Russo in Boston, has shared with us a fun variation of the sock bun. Appropriately called the “Cinnabun,” this bun is actually more of a hair wrap than a traditional bun.

The Cinnabun borrows from the symmetry and clean lines of everyone’s favorite indulgent treat. Perfect for a day at work or evening out on the town, this beautifully structured coil can be easily dressed up or dressed down. Want to add an extra something? The addition of a bedazzled thin headband or more casual stretchy headband can quickly change the look and feel of this style, making it adaptable for every occasion.

How to Score the Cinnabun

Begin this look with a classic blow-dry. Using a round boar bristle brush and hair drier on medium heat, smooth hair from roots to ends while blow-drying hair under.

Once hair is dry, apply a pea-sized amount of a smoothing serum to tame any flyaways. My go-to is Oribe Smooth Style Serum.

Using a fine tooth comb, begin to pull all of your hair to the back of your head. Sleekness is key for the front of this look – it should appear seamless and tight. Use the comb to achieve the desired smoothness in the front.

For extra interest, place a stretchy or decorate headband at crown of the head. This will help you to better achieve the smooth finish as well as give the style an added twist.

Gather hair into a ponytail at the back center of your hair and secure with an elastic.

Take a 1 to 1.5 inch of hair near the base of the ponytail and create a very small loop with the hair. The loop should loop under and face down towards the neck. Pin the small loop with bobby pins, fastening it under the elastic of the ponytail. Think of this as the center section of a flower. It will act as focal point for the rest of the Cinnabun.

Separate the remaining hair into two parts, one to the left and one to the right of the center loop.

Take the left section first, and loosely begin to wrap it around the loop. Lightly using a fine tooth comb, make sure the hair that’s being wrapped is smooth. As you begin to run out of hair to wrap, take a few bobby pins and secure the ends of the hair under and into the bun.

Take the right section next, and loosely begin to wrap it in the opposite direction around the loop. Again, lightly use a fine tooth comb to make sure the hair that’s being wrapped is smooth. Pin the ends under and into the bun.

Smoothness is key for the Cinnabun. Before finalizing the look with hairspray, take the fine tooth comb and go over any section of the bun that needs to be smoothed out.

To finish the style, liberally apply a strong hold hairspray all over the look. My favorite is MoroccanOil Luminous Hairspray.